Bookmark



Nov. 24, 1964 5. J. SALAYKA 3,158,131

BOOKMARK Filed Dec. 19, 1962 JHIIWH 17 AT TORN EY.

United States Patent 3,153,131 BGQKMARK Stephen 3. Salayka, 103 Berry St, Brooklyn, NRY. Filed Dec. 19, 1962, Ser. No. 245336 4 Claims. (Cl. 116-119) This invention relates to a bookmark, and more particularly relates to a bookmark which is adapted to be secured to the book with which it is used.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 175,750, filed February 26, 1962, now abandoned.

The invention has among its objects the provision of a novel bookmark of the type indicated, which is economical to make and which is easily attached to and removed from a book.

A further object of the invention lies in the provision of a bookmark of the type indicated which is compact and which adds little, if anything, to the height and thickness of the book.

Yet another object of the invention resides in the provision of a bookmark which is characterized by the ease with which it is used, which remains stably in place, and which does not tear or unduly wear the pages of the book.

The above and further objects and novel features of the invention will more fully appear from the following description when the same is read in connection with the accompanying drawings. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only, and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views,

FIG. 1 is a view in elevation of an illustrative bookmark made in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in top plan on a reduced scale of a closed book having the illustrative bookmark operatively mounted thereon;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view in elevation on a reduced scale of the book and bookmark combination shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view in perspective of a book incorporating the illustrative bookmark, the view illustrating the manner in which the bookmark cooperates with the pages of an open book as such pages are turned past the bookmark; and

FIG. 5 is a view in vertical section through the illustrative bookmark, the section being taken along the line 55 of FIG. 1.

The bookmark of the present invention is designated generally by the reference character 10. The main body of such bookmark is preferably made of an integral piece of sheet material, such material being flexible and somewhat elastic but stiff enough to be self-sustaining. Preferably the main body of the bookmark is relatively soft, as compared to the material of which clip 11 is made. The body of the bookmark includes an elongated arm 12, to the inner end of which is secured a clip 11, and to the outer end of which there is integrally attached a broad finger or tab 14. Clip 11 may be made of relatively hard, stiff but resiliently yieldable material such as a molded plastic, and is shown as having two broad confronting legs 22 and 24 which, when relaxed, converge in a direction from top to bottom. The relaxed spacing (FIG. 1) of the legs of clip 11 and the resiliency of the clip are such that the clip may be mounted on a cover of a book by being thrust thereon until it assumes the position shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, the lower ends of the legs 22 and 24 of the clip being forced apart and firmly gripping the opposite surfaces of the cover of the "ice book on which the clip is mounted. In such action the legs 22 and 24 bow only slightly, the inverted U-shaped upper end 25 of the clip being resiliently distorted to maintain cover-gripping pressure on the legs 22 and 24.

The inner end 26 of the arm 12 of bookmark 10 is attached to the clip -11 in the manner shown in FIGS.

1 and 5. The forward wall of the inverted U-shaped portion 25 of clip 11 is provided with a seat 27 which approximates the end portion 26 of arm 12. Portion 26 of the arm is disposed in such seat, and is secured to the clip as by being cemented thereto, heat sealed thereto if the plastic materials of which clip 11 and arm 12 are made are thermoplastic, or by any other satisfactory conventional fastening means.

The finger or tab 14 of the bookmark 10 extends downwardly and inwardly with respect to the length of arm 12 at an acute angle which is markedly less than In the embodiment shown, such angle approximates 45. The outer or upper edge of arm 12 merges smoothly with the outer edge of finger or tab 14 along a convex curve, as shown at 29. Tab 14 serves as a finger which is adapted to lie between successive pages of the book on which the bookmark 10 is mounted, tab 14 serving to mark the place at which the book is being read. Tab 14 is smooth surfaced, and preferably has the bounding edges of its surfaces at 29, 3t), and 31 smoothly rounded.

The bookmark may be attached to a book in the manner shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4. As there shown, the clip 11 is afiixed to the rear cover 16 of the book adjacent the binding 21) of the book, with leg 22 of the clip 11 lying between the cover 16 and the last of the pages 19 of the book. Arm 12 overlies the upper edges of the pages, in the embodiment shown, whereas tab 14 projects vertically between successive pages of the book. Although the bookmark 10 is shown attached to the book so as to cooperate with the upper edge thereof, it is to be understood that it may, if desired, be inverted and placed on the bottom of the book, since the arm 12 of the bookmark projects little, if any, beyond the edges of the rear and front covers 16 and 17 of the book.

FIG. 4 illustrates the action of the bookmark of the invention when it is incorporated in a book in the manner shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. When the book is opened at the position marked by the bookmark, the bookmark remains substantially in the position which it had when the book was closed, as shown in FIG. 2. Thus the arm 12 of the bookmark is resiliently bent somewhat and the tab 14 serves stably to retain the page of the book which is being read in place, as shown in full lines in FIG. 4. When, however, a page, there designated 19', is turned in the normal manner by grasping its outer edge and swinging it clockwise (FIG. 4), the bookmark is momentarily distorted in the manner indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 4. Thus the turning of page 19 causes the zone 21 thereof engaging finger 14 to twist arm 12, as indicated at 12'. This causes the finger 14 to become inclined, as shown at 14, so that the upper edge of page 19 has a camming action on the finger. Such camming action not only causes the described twisting of the arm of the bookmark, but causes such arm momentarily to be bent upwardly so that the upper edge of page 19' may pass beneath the lower end of the finger 14. The resilience of the material from which the bookmark is made causes it immediately to return to the solid line position of FIG. 4 after page 19 has passed the finger. The described turning of the pages of the book may be done in the normal manner and, because of the marked length of arm 12 of the bookmark and the smooth surface of finger 14, does not result in any undue wear on the page or give rise to any appreciable tendency to tear the page, because the finger has smooth surfaces and rounded longitudinal edge and end corners.

The main body of the bookmark of the invention may be made of various materials which have the requisite stififness to be self-sustaining but are resiliently yieldable so as to function in the described manner. Such main body of the bookmark may be made by blanking it out of sheet material, or it maybe molded from various other elastic plastic materials such as polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, cellulose acetate, and the like. When thus molded, the bookmark may be readily formed to finished shape with the tab 14 hauling the desired smooth surface and rounded edges and corners. Materials combining relatively low coefiioients of friction with the other indicated properties are to be .preferr'ed, since a finger 14 made of such preferred materials slide most satisfactorily along the "edges of the pages without any appreciable tendency to wear them unduly. The clip :11 may be made in a variety of conventional manners, for example by being molded.

The bookmark of the invention readily lends itself to mass production, and maybe readily attached to and re moved from a book when desired. The bookmark may, if desired, be employed to carry advertising material, or may be colored for decorative elfect. As above noted, the bookmark 'adds little, if anything, to 'the effective height and thickness of the book. Thus book's provided with the bookmark of the invention may be stacked in a normal manner. The stacking of the books so provided, one on top of the other as for the ipurpose of storage, does not result in the dam-age either of the books or the bookmarks, since the bookmark projects little, if any, beyond the edges of the covers of the book.

Although only one embodiment of the invention has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the foregoing specification, it is to b'e e'specia'lly understood that various changes, such as in the relative dimensions of the parts, "materials used, "and the like, as well as the suggested manner of use of th'e apparatus of the invention, may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope "of the invention as will now be apparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

'1. A bookmark having an elongated arm, means on one end of the arm "adapted for attachment to a cover of a book adjacent the binding the'reof withthe -arm overlying and generally parallel to one edge 'of "the pages of the book, and atab on theotherendofithearm adapted to lie between 'two consecutive pages o'f the "book, the tab extending toward the arm-attaching means at an acute angle with respect to *the length of the arm, the arm and tab 'of the bookmark being made of an integral sheetof elastic plastic material and being sufficiently stiff "to 'be Cit self-sustaining when the bookmark is held supported from the end of the arm bearing the arm-attaching means with the arm horizontal but being sufficiently soft and resilient for the arm to be bent away from the edge of the page of the book which it confronts and to be twisted about its longitudinal axis as the page engaged by the tab is turned in a normal manner, thereby permitting escape of such page past the tab and the tab and arm to resume their relaxed shape with the tab overlying the edge of the next page of the book.

2. Abookmark'havinga main body made of'an'integral piece of self-sustaining flexible elastic sheet material, said main body of the bookmark having an elongated arm, means on one end of the arm for attachment to a cover of a book adjacent the binding thereof with the arm overlying and generally parallel to one edge of the Tag es of the book, a smooth surfaced broad ta'b having rounded longitudinal and end surfaces integral with the end of the arm remote from the attaching means, the outer end surface of the tab being connected to the outer surface of the arm by a smooth convexly curved surface, said tab lying in the plane idf the arm, extending at an acute angle with respect thereto, and being adapted to lie between two consecutive pages of the book, the arm and tab of the bookmark'being sufficiently soft and resilient for the arm to be *bent away from the edge of the page of the book which it confronts and to be twisted about its longitudinal axis "as the page engaged by the tab is turned in a normal manner, thereby permitting escape of such page past the tab "and the tab and "arm to resume their relaxed shape with the 'tab overlying the edge of the next page of the book.

3. A bookmark as defined in claim '2, Whereinthe bookmark is madeo'f a-plastic material having -a lowcoeffi'cient of friction.

4. A bookmark as defined inolaim 3, wherein'the armattaching means is a clip having legs' adapted to embrace and grip theedge of a cover of the book on which the bookmark is mounted.

References Cited in the .file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,202,787 Zumft May 28, '1940 2,437,074 "Chapi'n Mar. 2, 1948 2,533,182 Lang Feb. 27, 1951 2,717,572 Kingman Sept. 13, 1955 3,016,036 Gorgensen Jan. 9, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 11,965 Great Britain 0f 1902 

1. A BOOKMARK HAVING AN ELONGATED ARM, MEANS ON ONE END OF THE ARM ADAPTED FOR ATTACHMENT TO A COVER OF A BOOK ADJACENT THE BINDING THEREOF WITH THE ARM OVERLYING AND GENERALLY PARALLEL TO ONE EDGE OF THE PAGES OF THE BOOK, AND A TAB ON THE OTHER END OF THE ARM ADAPTED TO LIE BETWEEN TWO CONSECUTIVE PAGES OF THE BOOK, THE TAB EXTENDING TOWARD THE ARM-ATTACHING MEANS AT AN ACUTE ANGLE WITH RESPECT TO THE LENGTH OF THE ARM, THE ARM AND TAB OF THE BOOKMARK BEING MADE OF AN INTEGRAL SHEET OF ELASTIC PLASTIC MATERIAL AND BEING SUFFICIENTLY STIFF TO BE SELF-SUSTAINING WHEN THE BOOKMARK IS HELD SUPPORTED FROM 